Why Carnival Shares Could Sink Further In 2012

By Trade In Mexico:Carnival Corporation (CCL) doesn't seem to have much luck lately. The company owns the Costa Concordia cruise ship which recently ran aground off the coast of Italy. The news of that disaster was spread in headlines around the world and it appears to have had an impact on cruise bookings. If that wasn't enough to make some tourists reconsider booking a cruise, more recent headlines might: Just days ago, Carnival Splendor passengers were robbed at gunpoint in Puerto Vallerta. But wait, there's more: The Costa Allegra which is also owned by Carnival Corporation had a fire erupt recently with over 1,000 passengers and crew members aboard. The ship is being towed to the Seychelles now. With three major incidents in 2012 that present potential safety risks, some customers might not book their next cruise with Carnival. Aside from those company-specific issues, Carnival is facing other challenges such as high fuelComplete Story »

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Thousands of passengers bound for Boston will spend Tuesday night stuck aboard a Norwegian cruise ship after it ran aground as it tried to depart Bermuda, officials and passengers said.
Small boats, divers and tug boats circled the Norwegian Dawn ship as officials tried to figure out how to solve the situation, according to tweets from passengers aboard the boat.

By Trade In Mexico:The now well-known and tragic fate of the Costa Concordia cruise ship which ran aground off the coast of Italy is just one issue for Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) that still continues to impact the company and the entire cruise industry. However, investors should be focusing their attention to what could be an even bigger problem, and that is the debt crisis and weakening economy in Europe.

One of the largest cruise ships in 1985 was the 46,000-ton Carnival Holiday. Ten years ago, the biggest, the Queen Mary 2, was three times as large. Today’s record holders are two 225,000-ton ships whose displacement, a measure of a ship’s weight, is about the same as that of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.

ROME — Prosecutors asked a court to convict the captain of the Costa Concordia and sentence him to 26 years in prison Monday for the 2012 shipwreck off Tuscany that killed 32 people, saying the term is hardly excessive given the death toll.
Prosecutor Maria Navarro also asked the court to detain Capt. Francesco Schettino again and seize his passport and navigation license, saying he is a flight risk. She said the trial had proved that Schettino “thought only and always about himself.”

Carnival Corporation (CCL) announced results of its first quarter of fiscal 2014 (1QFY14), just before markets opened today. For the quarter that ended February 28, the world’s largest vacation cruise operator reported adjusted net income of $2 million, a sharp drop from $67 million in 1QFY13.

By Hawkinvest:When a company faces some type of major challenge or even a disaster like the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill, it can present a buying opportunity, if the stock drops to bargain levels. Sadly, the Costa Concordia cruise ship recently ran aground off the coast of Italy and this tragedy continues to unfold in terms of human life, possible environmental issues as well as the financial losses.

ROME — A Rome university professor is facing a disciplinary hearing after inviting the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner to lecture students on emergency procedures, officials said Wednesday.
The dean of Rome’s Sapienza University, Luigi Frati, on Wednesday expressed anger at the professor’s decision to invite Capt. Francesco Schettino to give a seminar, calling it an “inappropriate and unworthy choice.” Frati said he was turning the matter over to an ethics committee.

Over its 41 years, Carnival Cruise Line has had a checkered past. In its heyday, Carnival was the cruise brand known for innovation, but more recently it has become known as the brand with PR disasters to deal with.

HOUSTON — Passengers aboard a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after a weekend engine fire have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot coffee, but also a new destination: Mobile, Ala.
Carnival Cruise Lines President and CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement Monday that the Carnival Triumph had drifted so far north of its original position that it will be towed to the southern U.S. port, instead of the original plan to take it to Progreso, Mexico.